The Guyana International Petroleum Exhibition (GIPEX), which is scheduled to host its second expo here next month, says no taxpayers’ money will be used for the event and that rates for participating companies which are 100% Guyanese are subsidized.
A statement by GIPEX on Friday clarifying arrangements for the November 20 to 22 exhibition came after a declaration on Thursday by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo that the PPP was considering boycotting the conference over government sponsorship.
“Maybe we will protest this event. Protest the waste of money… that is taking place this. I am putting the sponsors on notice, so you can very well see a protest. This is the abuse of state resources,” Jagdeo told a press conference.
GIPEX in its statement said the event is being organised by Valiant Business Media in collaboration with the Department of Energy, Ministry of the Presidency with support from GO-Invest. The statement did not state what this collaboration entailed.
Valiant is a global business information and corporate marketing group based in the UK.
According to GIPEX, no oil company is part of the organising team for this event.
“GIPEX is 100% funded by Valiant Business Media by way of support and sponsorship from companies in the oil and gas industry, as is standard with the staging of such events”, the organisation said, adding “No revenue from taxpayers is used for the staging of this event”.
It also said that rates are subsidised for 100% Guyanese companies which allows for exhibitors to receive a 35% discount.
These discounts have been amended over the last year, it said, in keeping with the movement of costs associated with the holding of the event.
It said that start-up companies pay a specially reduced group rate of US$1500 per booth space, shared by three companies, which amounts to just US$500 per company.
Further, each of the start-up companies receives a delegate pass at no additional cost.
The event also enables the opportunity for Guyanese companies to announce new joint ventures and partnerships to the media, by way of scheduled press briefings which aid in maximising their visibility.
The statement said that Valiant Business Media has also been engaging the local private sector with a view to maximising its participation in this signature event. The private sector here recently complained that they had been ignored by the Trinidad and Tobago Energy Chamber which recently held an event here.
The statement also said that a team of “100% Guyanese-owned companies continue to be engaged for the provision of services for GIPEX. These services include event planning, equipment rental, communications and marketing, branding and décor, multi-media services, accommodation, logistics and security”.
The statement asserted that GIPEX remains the largest oil and gas conference and exhibition in Guyana.
“With the participation of more than 600 delegates and well over 175 companies in 2018, GIPEX 2019 is poised to attract and engage the biggest players in the oil and gas industry as the country moves closer to first oil”, it said in its statement.
Jagdeo had said that he would also use the opportunity to complain to the international community that the APNU+AFC government has a caretaker status and should not be spending state resources on what he feels is “pseudo campaigning.”
Jagdeo had also pointed to the US$2000 participation fee saying that the average Guyanese business person would be unable to afford it.
“You have to pay a lot of money to be a participant here… this group from abroad will come and try to define the oil and gas sector for us too. That is what is happening now. The government has farmed this out to foreigners. So you will have (President David) Granger go and give a speech…,” he said.
“…I want to put the Department of Energy and GO-Invest on notice. This activity will receive our attention, if it goes again,” he added.
Jagdeo added that while GIPEX is being marketed as a forum that will see the attendance of the United States Secretary of Energy, this is contrary to information he has. “We have greeting remarks from the U.S Energy Secretary. The US Secretary of Energy is not coming here. We have confirmed that. This is part of their marketing tool to get people to pay the fees for the conference and the highlight is that people will want to listen to the U.S Energy Secretary,” he said.
